INTRODUCTION to the 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Horror Films

Current Version: February 2019 (1st edition)

Welcome to the first edition of the 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Horror Films list! This has been a side project of the site since the beginning but I wanted to wait until we had more than 500 lists and a more efficient and inclusive formula to create the best final list possible. It came a little later than I’d promised as real life got a little busy, but it is finally here!

This list uses the same lists that are included in the full TSZDT list, but are weighted slightly differently and since I have only used lists that are explicitly only made with films from the 21st century in mind, the films in this list are not ranked the same as they appear in TSZDT. Some rankings and inclusions seem a little strange, and there may still be some tweaking to do. I do not expect to update this list every year at this point as there would likely be few significant changes, but I will wait until next year to see whether we’ll go forward with annual editions.

2019 Edition Stats:

Decades

2000s: 145
2010s: 105

Regions

Currently 531 lists have been compiled into the final result. Weighting each list based on its type and source and using a few formulas, I’ve managed to narrow down 1,562 films into possibly the most definitive guide to the best horror films of the 21st century. As with any consensus list, it’s never going to be perfect and it’s always going to be partly a popularity contest but hopefully this list will help to guide your horror diet and discover some new films. This list can also be found on iCheckMovies and IMDb. This site also uses information taken directly from IMDb, including the use of original titles. Please note that this list and website is not affiliated with Bill Georgaris’ ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They’, but that the title, website design and compiling methods were inspired by it.

I’m always on the lookout for new lists, so if you find a list that you think could be useful, please share them!